Tag Archives: colon-liver metastasis

In our discussion with Jasmine’s daughter and son-in-law, I related the story of one of our patients. He was a 79-year-old Datuk — an educated man of high standing. Let’s call him Peter. He came with his brother who was a minister in the government. He had cancer in his colon that had spread extensively to his liver.

Peter refused further medical treatment in spite of the seriousness of his illness. According to him: I would not be able to endure all these treatments. Presented with such a situation, what could I do?

There were two realities we must face in this case.

One, there was a tumour in the rectum and this had not been removed. It was almost blocking the passage way. I pointed out to Peter, if the tumour grew bigger and block the passage of stools then he would be done. Peter understood the message. But he was told by his doctor that even if he was to go for an operation, his life could be prolonged by another three to four months only. Peter categorically told me he would not want to go through the hassle. Okay, this was my bargain with him. Take the herbs and change your diet and lifestyle and if the stools become smaller and smaller (meaning the passage way is blocked) then he has no choice but to go for surgery. There is nothing much I can do to help if this happened.

Problem number two is obviously more serious. The cancer had spread to his liver. I make it clear to Peter that no one on earth can cure liver cancer (for that matter any cancer!).

We prescribed herbs to Peter. Surprisingly he got better. I often called me over the phone. One time he asked if he could continue to enjoy his cigar after dinner. He said he had “sacrificed” enough forgoing all his favourite food when he was invited out for dinners. Then he wanted to know if he could still drink his wine since he had a good collection of wine at home. To that I remember saying, No – why don’t you have just give those wine to your friends. He answered, But you know each bottle cost a few thousand ringgit.

Once Peter called me to say that according to his niece who is a medical specialist, it was dangerous not to remove the tumour in his colon. The tumour would grow bigger and bigger and eventually block the passage way. According to theory or textbook knowledge the tumour will grow if not removed but my experience shows that with herbs and change of diet, this does not necessarily happen!

I asked, But can you pass your stools? Are the stools getting smaller and smaller? He answered, No. Then I said, In that case the tumour has not grown in size yet. We can still wait – but of course you can go for surgery if you like. So we waited. Six months passed and Peter was still alright – no problem of blockage.

About nine months later, I got a phone call from his brother. I was told that Peter was not doing well. His stomach was bloated and he felt uneasy and had no strength, etc. Without hesitation, I asked: What did your brother eat the past few days? The brother replied: I was told he ate pulut laced with sugar and salted fish. Not long after this, Peter died.

There are two lessons that we can learn from this story.

One, if the cancer has already spread, from the rectum to the liver, what good is surgery unless the tumour has blocked the passageway. In this case, Jasmine was able to move her bowels without any problem. You may wish to ask if what Jasmine underwent was the best option?

Two, learn that: What you eat is important. If you want to get well, you need to refrain from “bad food.” You cannot eat anything you like!

After hearing this, Jasmine’s son-in-law was eager to tell me his story too.

From the internet, the family learned that the chances of Jasmine surviving her cancer is extremely low. So all the family members had come to term with this and adopt this attitude: Let her eat what she wants to eat. Although the son-in-law did not agree with this he could not do anything. So there was tension in the family about Jasmine’s diet.

The daughter said, Even the doctor said my mother can eat anything — no pantang.

Last week they were all in a shopping mall in Medan. The son-in-law said, She does not like shopping.But she likes eating. So she ate laksa, koay teow and rojak. My mother-in-law became so ill that she had to be rushed to the hospital after that.

So it goes again. The same old story being played over and over again!

So I told Jasmine’s daughter and son-in-law. If she is not going to take care of her diet, then there is no point taking our herbs. It would just a wasted effort. If you don’t want to take care of your diet, you die faster. It is as simple as that. And if I know that my patients go back to their old eating habits after being well, I would not want to see them again. I am just fed up. I can help with the cancer, but I know I cannot change human being.

Comments

Over the years dealing with cancer patients, I have come to accept that we cannot help everyone. We can only help those who want to help themselves. I often tell patients: If you can eat, can sleep, can move around and have no pain – what else do you want? Each day, learn to be grateful for what you are.